The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-06-18

Persuadlng myself that such was the case,
closed my eyes again, and tried to sleep.
Barely five minutes could have elapsed
when the stiffness of the night was again
broken by groan.
jumped out of bed as rapidly as my
weakness would permit, and stood listen
ing, supporting myself by the bedpost. As
did so fancied could hear the sound
of heavy breathing.
became seized with desire to investi-
gate the matter. Huddling on few clothes
l cautiously left the bedroom and crept
noiselessly down the passage At the ex-
treme end was door, from underneath
which light shone. | walked slowly to-
ward it, but found had miscalculated my
strength, for sudden dizziness seized me,
and l was obliged to lean against the wall
for several seconds.
When sufficiently recovered l resumed
my journey, and after some hesitation
pushed the door gently open and looked
in,
My entrance was unobserved and l stood
motionless, taking in every detail of the
strange scene On bed in the corner of
the room lay fgure-the figure Of that
lion-faced man.
Mrs. Rossiter was kneeling by his side,
with her arms clasped around his neck.
Ella was close to her mother, and on the
other side of the bed a man, whom |
judged to be the doctor, was mixing some
medicine / uttered an exclamation of
surprise, and they all turned round.
Mrs. Rossiter cried out in alright, and
Ella rushed forward and endeavored to drag
me from the room. No sooner did the
man become aware of my presence, than
look of intense hatred flashed from his
eyes, and with an inarticulate murmur he
struggled to rise from the bed But his
wife tightened her grasp around his neck,
and with soothing words strove to calm her
husbands anger. Though he never ceased
to glare at me, his enfeebled strength pre-
vented him from doing any mischief, and
! stood gazing at him in return, fascinat-
cd at the. splendid wreck he presented.
With his magnificent physique and noble
head, he looked like one of the 0lympian
gods. The tawny unkempt hair still fell
in profusion on his face and neck, and,
even as l gazed, the fierce light faded from
his eyes, and convulsive shudder passed
over his massive frame.
Mrs. Rossiter bent down, and in voice
of agonized entreaty murmured, "Emil
Emil, say goodbye to me-" But her
prayer remained unanswered, for the Dark
King had already claimed his own.
Mrs, Rossiter only survived her husband
three months, and at the expiration of
another year Ella and | were married
Our honeymoon was spent in Scotland, and
one Sunday in the neighborhood of Bal
moral, my wife told me the whole sad story
of her fathers life.
Her grandfather, Mr.. Rossiter, with his
two sops-Emil and Auguste, twins-oc-
cupied a large detached house in the South
of England. He lived the life of a recluse,
never associating with his fellow-creatures,
the reason being his extraordinary resem-
blance to lion, an affliction under which
the male members of the family had labored
for generations.
On attaining manhood tho twins fell in
love with the same woman--Ella' mother.
She favored Emil, and soon after they were
married The young couple lived in the
old house, and one day the father, entering
a room used by the brothers as sort of
study, discovered, to his horror, Augaste
lying on the ground with bullet through
his heart, and Emil sitting in distant
corner of the room, crying and talking to
himself At the inquest an open verdict
was returned, there being no vestige of
proof to show how the deed was committed
Emil left that house-a madman. For tif-
teen years he was confined in an asylum,
and upon his release it was found that he had
lost the power of speech, and that memory
was blank One strange hallucination,
however, remained. He imagined that he
was always being pursued by the police,
and for that reason would only visit his
wife's house after dark, and then by an un-
frequented and circuitous route. To hu-
NOR him Mrs. Rossiter arranged signal
three taps on the door-by which he could
always obtain admittance. On the occa-
sion of my first visit to their house, | hap
pened, unwittingly, to make use of that
signal. Mrs. Rossiter hearing three taps,
naturally imagined that her husband was
seeking adnittance my reception.
Her part in the strange drama had been
an exceptionally hard one. Devoted to
her husband, and loving him with an in
tensity which his sad affiiction only in
creased, it was her fate to have that love
spurned, and her devotion treated with
indifference. His whole life was wrapped
up in that of his daughters, born few
months after his committal to the asylum.
He would sit for hours by her side watch
ing every movement and anticipating every
want, and never taking the slightest notice
of his wife, who sat silent and despairing,
smiling at her own grief The madman's S
hatred for me was solely from the fact that
he imagined would take his daughter
away from him, and thus destroy the one
bright CLEAN of happiness in his life.
A plain stone marks the spot where they
lie, and carved in the stone are the Hebrew
prophets magical words:
At evening-time there shall be light"